STEALTH ANTENNAS

SMALL HF ANTENNAS
THE SMALL SPACE AND BIG ANTENNA DILEMMA

CONSTRAINTS:
COVENANTS
RESTRICTED LOT SIZE
CITY BYLAWS
BOARDS OF VARIANCE
STRATA RULES
NEIGHBOR COMPLAINTS OF UNSIGHTLY
STRUCTURES
WHAT ELSE AS IF THAT’S NOT ENOUGH ?
 THE CHALLENGE
• How to make HF antennas perform in small spaces

• Small antennas
Small means shorter antennas that fit available space

• How to make a STEALTH antenna

Antennas that are visible but don’t look like antennas

• How to Hide antennas

Out of sight but somewhere in/on the housing structure
 OPERATING ISSUES
• Performance issues using short antennas
Lower gain – less “wire in the sky”
Narrower bandwidths – tuning required

• Interference more likely

Proximity to audio, video, AM, FM, PC, Tel, etc. equipment
QRP to 100 watts probably max

• Safety issue
You and the antenna may share the same space
RF biological exposure limits to be checked
Structural integrity of mounted antennas – make secure
 BUILDING RF TRANSPARENCY
• Wooden frame structures
RF transparency – good
Internal conductors – “antennas”
Power, telephone, cable, alarm, etc. wiring
Copper plumbing

• Concrete structures
RF shielded at HF
Rebar and metal framed windows – small aperture
Metal 2 X 4 framing inside building
Internal conductors
 SOME ANTENNA THEORY
• BASIC ANTENNA FORMS – ONLY 2
DIPOLE FORM
VERTICAL FORM
• UNDERSTANDING SHORT ANTENNAS
PROPERTIES
BEHAVIOR
PERFORMANCE
• WHAT TYPE MIGHT BE BEST DEPENDS ON
CIRCUMSTANCES
 ANTENNA CIRCUIT
• Generator – the transmitter
• Feedline – two conductors
• Antenna – two wires
• Antenna as R = radiation resistance at resonance
• Complete the circuit – current must flow entirely around
the loop
Antenna Circuit
 STANDARD ANTENNA
to which most other antennas are compared
• Resonant Half Wave dipole
●
½ Wave length elevation above ground
• At resonance, feed point ~ 50 ohms (radiation resistance)
Good match to 50 ohm coax
Low VSWR
Maximum power transfer from rig to antenna
• Short antenna performance measured against this
Gain, impedance, bandwidth
 SHORT ANTENNA PROPERTIES
• Antenna gain is reduced due to shortness
• Feed point impedance changes
• Antenna no longer resonant at desired frequency
radiation resistance drops significantly
capacitive reactance appears at the feed point
feedline matching becomes poor and high VSWR results
• Efficiency drops
ohmic losses become a significant part of the feed point Z
 SOLUTIONS
●
Dipoles
●
Loops
●
Verticals
●
Long (actually short) wires
●
Other?
 RESTORE RESONANCE
• Short antenna “looks” capacitive
• Restore feed point impedance to look resistive
• Add an inductor somewhere “in” the antenna
nulls out the capacitance – creates resonant circuit
used with both dipoles & verticals
• Add a capacitor to the end of the antenna
make antenna look longer (electrically) than it is
used most often with verticals
 USE AN EXTERNAL TUNER
• Antenna is not brought back to resonance
no inductive or capacitive loading added
• Tuner matches complex antenna feed point impedance to 50
ohm output of transmitter
• Useful for multi-band operation
• Tuning limitations may be evident if tuner cannot match the
antenna / feed line impedance
• Antenna is not brought back to resonance
• Rig tuners not well suited to off-resonant antennas
 LOADING COILS
• Loading Coils are inserted in series with antenna
“makes up for shortness”
• Cancels the Capacitive component
• Resonates the antenna
• Coil placement
Dipoles – one in each leg
Verticals – one towards or at the bottom
 COIL LOADED DIPOLE
• Balanced system
• Single band
• No ground issues
• Reduce lengths
80m dipole from 132 ft to 69 ft
40m dipole from 66 ft to 38 ft
most likely an outdoor application
• Radio tuner ought to be OK
LOADING COILS
Coil Loaded Dipole
 STEALTH
• Flagpole Verticals – ground mounted
• Wires lying on roof tops
Black insulation, small diameter, #22
• Wires on Gable ends
No good under AL eaves with AL gutters
• Wires on Fences – Loops
• Attics for yagi’s
• VHF/UHF on short mast looks like TV antennas
• Vent pipe VHF/UHF verticals, roof mounted (Ventenna)
 STEALTH & SHORT VERTICAL
OCF
Flagpole Buddipole
Vertical vertical for
HF 80m
Antenna
ARRL publication
available online as a
free pdf file.

It is an excelent
resource for all versions
of compact antennas.

Search on the title and

several sites will be
listed for downloading
HF Magnetic Loop Antenna
 Magnetic Loop Antenna

1. What exactly is an MLA or STL?

2. Differences between dipole and loop antennas
3. Why is an MLA a good stealth antenna?
4. How to construct a high performance MLA.
MLA Radiation Pattern
Differences between dipole and loop antennas
1. ½ λ long wire vs 3 foot diameter loop
2. Height ½ wave length vs 1 Loop diameter
3. ¼ λ vertical gnd dependence vs no loop ground
4. Elevated, low V & I vs Close by, very high V & I
5. Broadband, efficient vs Narrow band, < efficient
6. Set & forget vs Remote capacitor tuning (hi Q)
7. Cheap to buy/build vs Expensive unless DIY
Why is an MLA (STL) a good stealth antenna?
1. Work efficiently in the 40M thru 10M bands
2. No ground plane required
3. Can be mounted close to physical ground
4. HOA friendly due to small size, easily disguised
5. Attic mount, covert outdoor, portable indoor
6. Reduce QRM and QRN
20M STL (3FT Diameter- Stand Mounted)
5 WATTS WSPR
40M thru 30M 6 Foot Diameter STL
40M STL (6FT Diameter- Attic Mounted)
5 WATTS WSPR
How to construct a high performance STL
1. High quality (low ESR) capacitor required
2. Cap must have KV and high amp capabilities
3. Large diam. round or wide flat conductor loop
4. Minimum solder joints, use silver solder
5. Can be circular, octagon, square shape
6. Maximize enclosed area of the loop
7.Minimize every milliohm of resistance (loss)
Variable Capacitor
 Feeder Loop

Faraday Shielded Loop Un-shielded Loop

 MLA Build Materials
0.016X4X10”
Aluminum sheets Blank PCB’s 6-32 Screws &
Ace or Hob Lob web Nuts - HD

3/4”X ¾” Aluminum Snow markers

Extrusion - HD HD
Paint stir stick - HD
6-32 Threaded
Shaft - Grainger
Not pictured:
Center Hub and
Cu sheet - web
Silver Solder
3/4”Cu Pipe - HD
 66pacific.com
Small Transmitting Loop Antenna Calculator
 66pacific.com
Capacitance Calculator
 20M – 10M STL: Nano VNA SWR Sweeps

STL Tuned to 20M STL Tuned to 17M

Antenna efficiency: 72% (-1.4 dB below 100%) Antenna efficiency: 86% (-0.7 dB below 100%)
 20M – 10M STL: Nano VNA SWR Sweeps

STL Tuned to 15M STL Tuned to 10M

Antenna efficiency: 91% (-0.4 dB below 100%) Antenna efficiency: 97% (-0.1 dB below 100%)
 IC 7300 40M SWR Sweeps

20M Dipole Plus Automatic Tuning Unit 40M 6 Ft Diameter STL

 References
BLACKSTONE VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
W1YRC Bob Beaudet K1GND Jim Johnson

https://www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/pdf-ant/article-antenna-
mag-loop-2.pdf
“An Overview of the Underestimated Magnetic Loop HF
Antenna”
By Leigh Turner VK5KLT (updated Oct, 2015)